As of March 3rd, 2022, 249 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 553 injured as a result of the first week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A number of countries and global alliances have been demonstrating support for Ukraine by providing them much needed weapons and resources. Alternatively, some of those countries and alliances have implemented sanctions on Russia, in an attempt to undermine the country and its military. The UN removed Russia from SWIFT (a global financial messaging system) , Switzerland froze certain Russian Assets in their economy, Japan pledged to limit transactions with Russia’s national bank, the US followed similarly and much, much more.
All of these actions are in an effort to attack Russia and diminish their invasion. At least, that's what we believe. The real impact of these sanctions may be a lot heavier than what's on the surface. Not for Russia or Ukraine, but instead the civilians of Russia.
Before the invasion started and rumors were spreading across the media., Russian civilians were publicly protesting the idea of an invasion. When the invasion did eventually occur, Russian civilians were more confused than ever. Videos and interviews of Russian soldiers invading Ukraine lead to the idea of misleading directions. Many Russian soldiers claim that they were unaware, at best, of the reason for their deployment in Ukraine. Some even claim they were believed to be welcomed by Ukrainians. This vast range of testimonies point to the assumption that Russian authorities may be misleading their soldiers.
The following are text messages from a Russian soldier's phone moments before he was killed. Read by UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya
Mama I'm in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I'm afraid.
We are bombing all of the cities together even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists.
Mama this is so hard.
Additionally, the sanctions imposed on Russia seem to have a greater effect on the civilians instead of the military. As more economic blockades occur and assets stay frozen, the Russian currency is becoming less and less valuable every hour. The situation is so bad that civilians have been seen forming massive lines attempting to cash out their accounts before banks crash. Russian civilians are also buying technology in mass in a desperate attempt to hold onto some sort of value.
The reality of this situation is much worse than most people believe it is. The Ukraine invasion is a conflict with two victims; Ukraine and Russian civilians. It is the definition of a lose-lose situation.
Written by: Ricardo Corpus
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